Did you know that nowadays, you can really make anything if you put your mind to it? The devices most of our own all have applications and tools to make any sort of media. Stuff like books, videos, and articles we can make using our phones and computers, modern technology has become so advanced we can all also make bigger things like video games and, you guessed it, shows.

Hazbin Hotel is a prime example of one of “pilots”, The pilot blew up in popularity so high that It was eventually turned into a full tv show exclusive to prime video. Web series have been a small thing for so many years, but today, they thrive. This is going to be a review of three of these “pilots” made by only a few individuals with a lot of free time.

Ramshackle

Ramshackle started as a thesis film before the creator finished a pilot of a show based off of it. The show is about three street kids who try to survive living in the crazily brutal town of Ramshackle. In this pilot episode, the three lost their stash of beans and in a search of where they went, found a baby who they named “maggot”. The rest of the episode is the three kids and the baby trying ways to get beans for dinner or they’re gonna have to eat shoes.

What I like about this episode is that it’s not an episode about learning to raise a child, but instead the three characters simply protecting and respecting the baby as a member of their team. This show also establishes it’s humor very well, like early in the episode the team try to rob a rich person and after she tries to call the police, maggot just comically eats her (literally eating the rich).

The animation alone is worth watching but this pilot is just so fantastic in its writing, characters and humor. I absolutely recommend it and the thesis film.

Catching Up

I went into Catching up with moderate expectations and, while not liking it a whole lot, I don’t think it’s bad at all. Catching Up is about Clay and Rob trying to do what teenagers are supposed to be doing, in the pilot’s case it’s going to parties.

​The animation is very reminiscent of the fairly odd parents in a surprisingly charming way, that could be said for all the visuals really. I can’t say all of the jokes landed, but there were some that I did find myself getting caught off guard with. I must mention the amount of cliche writing, especially with the opening and specifically the fact there’s a bully who is just every bully in fiction ever.

I do try to stay positive, if you grew up with fairly odd parents and are a fan of adult humor, I recommend you check this pilot out.

The Amazing Digital Circus

I honestly am surprised and not surprised at the same time about the fact this pilot blew up as big as it did. I showed this to all my siblings and watched it at least five times in the week it came out because it was a very competent and entertaining idea. The show is about a woman who puts on a headset and gets trapped in (who guessed it) a ‘Digital Circus” with multiple real people who are also stuck in it all hosted by an ai. This is apparently based off of I Don’t Have A Mouth And I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison which is about an AI who kills all of humanity except for a few humans who are torched senselessly, which definitely helps when a lot of the show is about the mystery of what is this place and how can the characters escape it.

The animation I feel biased about because I’ve been following the lead animator for a few years, so I’ll say that good. Everything about this is good, the humor is great, the music is very good (probably because it is also by the director of the show), and the character designs are (for lack of a better word) perfect for this show.

It’s hard not to talk about this show’s success when this free to watch series of videos just got announced to be on netflix, just to help fund the team behind it..This pilot does everything to set up an entertaining wacky and scary adventure, so if any of this interests you, go check it out!